Memoirs and morsels from home and abroad

last all week

With a rainy Sunday and a long week of work ahead, today was a day for cooking. In an effort to break my eating out every lunch habit, I set to work on a hearty last all week soup. The recipe is simple, hearty, and plentiful. And that’s it. Happy almost Monday, everyone!

Red Lentil Soup

This soup reminds me of one that I had when I was in Cairo a few months ago. I based it on one I found in the NYT and then I upped the Middle Eastern factor with a more than liberal sprinkling of cumin and the addition of sumac which adds a sour note. The lemon juice at the end adds extra freshness.

Serves 6-8.

-3-4 T olive oil

– 2 onions, chopped

– 4 cloves garlic, chopped

– 1 6 oz. can of tomato paste

– 1 heaping T cumin

– a few pinches cayenne pepper

– 1 heaping t sumac

– 6-7 C vegetable broth

– 1.5 C red lentils

– 1 C brown lentils (not French/de Puy lentils)

– salt and pepper to taste

– lemon juice

Heat olive oil and saute onion and garlic about 4-5 minutes until soft. Add tomato paste, cumin, cayenne, and sumac, sauteing for another 5 minutes. Add broth and lentils and bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes until lentils soften. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a few splashes of lemon.

– Julie — let me know how it turns out. Note — it’s a bit on the thicker side since I used both red lentils and brown lentils and I used a little less water. Also, you can use an immersion blender to smooth everything out, but I liked the coarser texture here.
– Thanks Heavenly — Hope you try this soup if the mood strikes. If you want to less hearty, just use all red lentils, more water, and blend.
– Cara – thanks for visiting. What a beautiful site you have — I can’t wait to curl up with my computer and check it out.
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Thanks, Meira. Sumac is an herb/spice that imparts a sour taste to stuff. I found mine in a spice-only store. Since it’s a middle eastern spice, maybe you can find it in a kosher store? If not, I think you can add in some extra lemon juice or maybe zest.

Also the soup is really easy to make — if you want to make it for shabbat as a main course, I’d probably only use red lentils to keep it a bit thinner and less hearty. You can also use an immersion blender to make it smooth.